Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Whitney Houston Make Forbes’ Highest-Paid Dead Celebrities 2023

The King of Pop, Michael Jackson, leads the annual list of Forbes Highest-Paid Dead Celebrities 2023 with $115 million in earnings. It marks the second time the late artiste clinched the top spot. Jackson’s earnings increased over the past year from ticket sales of the Broadway hit ‘MJ: The Musical,’ which grossed about $85 million. The  Cirque du Soleil show, ‘Michael Jackson ONE,’ in Las Vegas, also raked in millions for the deceased. Forbes forecast that his earnings will continue to rise given that his estate signed a biopic earlier in the year which will feature his nephew Jaafar.

Following him closely is his late father-in-law, Elvis Presley with $100 million. His home,  Graceland, in Memphis, Tennessee, saw about 600,000 visitors in the last 12 months and the estate has multiple sources of income, including tickets and merchandise. Other renowned dead celebrities on the list include Dr Seuss (No. 4, $40 million), Prince (No. 6, $30 million), and Whitney Houston (No. 7, $30 million). Forbes Dead Celebrity ranking this year includes pretax earnings from sales, streams, licensing deals and other sources between October 1, 2022, and September 30, 2023, as well as estate acquisitions made or announced during the same period.